The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
NEPENTHES
Definition of NEPENTHES
noun
A drug mentioned in Homer's Odyssey (c. 8th century B.C.E.) as bringing relief from anxiety or grief; hence, any drug or substance seen as bringing welcome forgetfulness or relief.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
Borrowed from Latin nēpenthes (“a drug bringing relief from grief”), from Ancient Greek νηπενθές (nēpenthés), neuter of νηπενθής (nēpenthḗs, “sorrow-banishing”), from νη- (nē-, “not”) + πένθος (pénthos, “grief”) (from πάσχειν (páskhein), present active infinitive of πάσχω (páskhō, “to be ill or injured in a certain way; to suffer”), from Proto-Indo-European *kʷendʰ- (“to endure, to suffer”)). Compare French népenthès (“a plant from which a drug supposedly bringing relief from grief may be obtained; such a drug”).
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
3 recorded generations before English.
Deepest traced root
2nd
of 59 source languages in OUTLIER
14.2%
of traced words share this origin (12,251)
How it is built
Same root, NEPENTHE · 2 relatives in the game
Its etymology also names French.
Every Proto-Indo-European word → · The Word DNA of OUTLIER →
OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.
NEPENTHES in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 1 board so far.
It first turned up on Day 169, 5 November 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 8 days.
First ever to find it
on Day 169, 5 November 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers
Built from these letters
NEPENTHES starts with N and ends with S. Sorted, its letters read EEEHNNPST - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. N and E appear more than once.
Words that start NEPENT
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Could you have found NEPENTHES?
OUTLIER is a daily word game. One grid, the same grid for everybody, and the words nobody else spots are the ones that pay. This word was on Day 169 - and most players walked straight past it.
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